the war
by sergeant peace
Summary: friday Phil had the greatest life, star football player, good job, everyone knew him, now saturday morning that's all gone, replaced by Planes flying over dropping soldiers, and tanks rolling down the street. can he and his two other surviving friends get back to friendly territory before it's too late?
1. attack on LA

The war.

Phil woke up and stretched he looked at his Alarm clock, "oh shit!" he shouted, jumping up and getting dressed, "Lil! How come you didn't wake me up!" he shouted getting pants on.

"Because you should've set your alarm!" Lil said poking her head in.

"Power went out last night!" he said angrily, "My alarm reset!"

"Not my problem!" she said and walked away.

Phil groaned and got his shoes on, he ran downstairs and grabbed his keys.

"Phil!" his mom shouted, "don't forget that tonight it's early lockdown!"

"Yeah mom!" he shouted, "I know."

"Right after the game comes straight home!"

He ran to his truck and jumped in, "shit got to go pick up Tommy." he muttered, and backed up into the street, he looked around and saw troops walking down the side walk like always, for a year these guys had been stationed in LA, a year of waiting for someone to throw the first punch, but nothing ever happened, and these guy's had melded into everyday life,

"Sir, pull over the vehicle!" someone said on a loud speaker, Phil looked behind him and saw an army Truck following him, he groaned and pulled over, he parked it and waited.

A soldier walked over to the window, 'Phillip Deville." He said looking down at him.

"Colonel Ackers," Phil said, "how you doing?"

Colonel Ackers smiled "I'm doing good son," He said grinning, "thought I'd give you a little scare before school.'

Phil gave a smirk, "yeah well I'm running late today."

"Alright, I also came to grant you good luck on tonight's game, I hope you boy's will win tonight."

"Thanks sir, now I gotta go pick up Tommy."

"Go on ahead, and stay out of trouble."

"Come on, you know me."

"That's why I'm telling you!"

Phil grinned and started driving again. After a few blocks he pulled into Tommy's driveway and Tommy ran out and jumped in, "Hell man, where have you been?"

"Sorry, another power outage last night knocked my Alarm clock out."

"That's understandable." Tommy said and they started driving away.

"So you ready for tonight?" Tommy asked, "Phil Deville, the Strong Arm of the Defense."

Phil grinned, "hell yeah I'm ready." He said, "You ready Quarterback?"

"Oh I'm always ready." Tommy said grinning as they pulled into the parking lot.

Phil parked and jumped out, Dil poked his head out from the back, "Dil I'll never understand how you can get into my truck without me seeing you."

"That's a secret I'll never tell." He said slowly going back down.

"Tommy, what's wrong with your brother?"

"…No one knows." Tommy said and they started walking in, as they walked they past by Wally and a few of her friends, Wally glared at Phil and pointedly turned away.

"Man she still mad at you?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah," Phil said, "she's been mad at me since freshman year, and the weird thing is I didn't do anything, if I did something wrong then I would understand, but now…it's weird."

Tommy nodded, "eh she'll come around before too long." He said.

Phil shrugged and walked over to everyone else, Kimi and Chuckie were in an argument.

"I still don't get why you don't want me going out with him!" Kimi muttered.

"He's a jarhead, for all you know he goes after every girl that bats her eyes at him."

"He's not like that Chuckie!"

"He's a soldier, of course he'll be like that!"

"Hey Chuckie," Phil said, "What are you freaking out about now?"

"Kimi is trying to go out with one of the soldiers."

"Not like he's five years older then me." She muttered.

"Which soldier is it?" Phil asked.

"Private George." Chuckie said.

"He's a cool guy," Phil said, making Chuckie turn red, "me and Tommy had a few beers with him, guy's a cool guy, of course he had a girlfriend before he came here."

"He did?" Kimi asked.

"Oh yeah," Phil said, "he talked about her the entire time we were drinking.

"Well I gotta go," Kimi said "see you guy's later," she walked away quickly.

"Did you really have drinks with him?" Chuckie asked softly,

"Hell no, we talked with him for about thirty minutes, the dudes a prick." Phil said, "Wouldn't want Kimi to go with that."

"Thanks Phil." Chuckie said, "Now lets get to class."

**After school**

Phil drove to the hunting store clipping on his nametag, he parked and jumped out running in.

"Phillip," an old Russian behind the desk said, "you are late."

"Sorry Mr. Karkarov, coach held us back for a little while." Phil said,

"Bah, Coaches," he muttered, "think their the best ever, go sort the bullets in the drawer, Open season starts next week and those ebanko's don't know how to look for their bullets."

Phil nodded and went into the back, "so Mr. Karkarov, you think you'll go to the game tonight?"

Eh? No, my old bones wouldn't get me there, I'll listen to the radio broadcast though, and Phillip."

Phil looked over,

"Kick their Asses," the old man grinned.

Phil smiled, "yes sir." He said, and continued going to work.

**That night after the game.**

Phil walked off the field grinning ear to ear, behind him the team carried Tommy on their shoulders, all of them cheering and screaming like wild Indians.

"Phil!" Kimi shouted running over, "Good game!"

"Thanks Kim." He said, "good cheerleading."

"Thanks." She said grinning, Phil turned around and started walking to the Dressing room but almost crashed into Wally, "sorry." He said, "Didn't see you."

"Just be careful Deville." She said looking at him, then walking away.

Phil sighed and went into the dressing room and got out of his clothes, he took a quick shower and got changed as the rest of the team changed, the lights flickered then turned off, "aw shit!" he heard someone shout, "hey someone turn on their phone!"

Across the room hundreds of screens turned on and Phil could vaguely see, "power down again?" tommy grumbled, "what's the army doing."

Outside they heard a loud whistle, "what the hell…" Phil muttered and looked out the window, he saw something streak through the sky and fly towards the field, "Everyone get down!" he shouted and jumped away from the window as the thing hit the ground and the field blew up,

"Holy shit!" Tommy shouted, covering his face, he ran to another window and looked outside, Soldiers were jumping off the trucks they were sitting in and shouting orders, Tommy looked at the sky as search lights lit up the night and saw thousands of parachutes floating down, "We're under attack!" tommy shouted, "it's the Koreans!" one of the Paratroopers closer to the ground saw tommy looking out the window and pointed his gun at him. Tommy hit the ground as bullets flew through the window, "Shit!" Tommy screamed as some of the guy's fell, "Get dressed as best as you can and get out of here!"

The guy's scrambled to the doors and ran as the paratroopers landed and started firing,

Tommy and Phil ran out, "get to my truck!" he shouted and they ran to the parking lot, a rocket flew through the sky and slammed into the center of the parking lot, blowing up all the cars, "get away from the, truck get away from the truck!" he screamed quickly.

"All Civilians get to the Transport trucks on LaGrange," Phil heard Colonel Ackers voice, "this is not a drill I repeat, THIS IS NOT A DRILL!"

Tommy and Phil ran as hard as they could, all around them was noise and confusion as shots were exchanged and the sounds of war filled the air.

"Phil!" Lil screamed from the top of one of the transport trucks, they were already starting to move.

"Come on Tommy!" Phil shouted, "Before they leave!" the two boys ran faster trying to catch up to the truck, Tommy got a hand on the rail and pulled himself up, "Come on Phil!" he shouted holding out a hand.

Phil reached for the hand, 'almost there!" he shouted, then an RPG flew through the air and slammed beside the truck, making it swerve and making Phil fall.

"PHIL!" Tommy shouted as the Truck corrected itself and drove away.

"Damn!" Phil shouted holding his arm; he stood up as more people crowded together,

"What do we do? We stay here we'll be killed!" someone shouted,

A Jeep sped over and came to a halt in front of them, Colonel Ackers stood up, his arm was covered in blood and he had cuts all over his face, "alright listen up!" he shouted, "there's a Bunker not too far from here! If you run you can still make it! Private Vickers, take the wheel and head back to the main part of the fighting, I'll lead them there!"

"Yes Colonel!" Vickers shouted getting into the drivers seat as Ackers jumped out. The jeep turned around and sped away, the fifty cal. On the back firing.

"Follow me!" he shouted putting a clip in his rifle, "and stay close!" the group of people ran through the streets, getting farther and farther from the fighting, the Colonel led them up the hill and to an old building, "if you go through there you'll find a ladder that leads down into the mountain, once inside close the heavy metal doors and wait, I'll give the signal to come out."

Everyone stormed into the building, "Phil!" Ackers shouted, and Phil ran over, "yeah?"

The Colonel gave him the rifle, "if I don't send out the all clear in 24 hours, assume I'm dead, get out of the bunker and lead these people to the rally point in Las Vegas, do you understand."

Yes sir." Phil said.

"Now go!" he shouted as he heard someone charging up the slope, and from the language they were shouting, they weren't friendlies, "I'll hold them off as long as I can!"

Phil ran into the building and down the stairs, he climbed down a ladder into a hole and saw the metal doors, they were slowly closing, he ran as fast as he could and jumped in moments before the door closed, he looked around and saw monitors around the room, they showed the condition outside, Phil ran to one of them and looked, he saw Ackers with a pistol holding off a group of Korean soldiers trying to Assail the bunker, "Ackers…" he muttered as he saw the Colonel get shot twice, and collapse, then the Koreans move in and shoot him four more times to make sure he was dead. They looked up and quickly cleared the area.

"Their retreating!" someone shouted and there was a cheer.

Phil looked at the sky, "their not retreating," he said, as a giant plane flew overhead, it's bomb bay doors opening, "their making sure their bombs don't hit them." The Plane dropped its payload as it climbed the bombs slammed into the ground and Phil felt the earth shutter, then heard the sound of the ceiling collapsing over them, he heard screams and cries for help, then he was hit on the head and he passed out.

Phil cracked his eyes open, and was instantly blinded, "what the hell." He muttered moving a hand to cover his face, he could see the sun shining over head, he sat up and looked around, the entire Bunker was now gone, replaced by a pile of rubble, "hello!" he shouted, "is anyone there!" there was no respond, nothing but dust and echoes. He looked at his feet and saw them pinned under a rock, he started pushing on it trying to move it, 'Damn It." he shouted not able to push it off.

"You need some help down there?" he heard someone say, he looked up and saw a guy in shaggy and ripped up clothes looking down at him.

"Yeah, think you could lend a hand?" Phil asked.

The guy jumped down with a pole in his hand, he went over and shoved the pole under the rock and used it as a lever to pull it up. Phil pulled his feet out and made sure they weren't broken, then stood up, "thanks man," he said.

"No problem." He said, "Names Artie,"

"Phil." He said and looked around, he saw the rifle Colonel Ackers had given him smashed under a boulder, "what happened since last night?"

"Complete hell," Artie said, "Damn Koreans overran the Defenses and slaughtered our troops, and all of LA is now under their control, and probably most of California by now."

Phil sighed, "Anyone survive?"

"There's a small part of town that's devoted to the few survivors, it runs from the stadium all the way to 16th street."

He nodded, "Think we can sneak in?"

"Yeah, there's a few holes in the fences, but why would you want to do that?"

"I need to see if a friend of mine survived," Phil said, "the guy never leaves his house so I have high hopes."

"Alright," Artie said, "but I doubt it."

The two climbed out of the destroyed bunker and stood on top of the Hill, "holy shit." Phil muttered seeing the destruction of the city for the first time, the entire place was completely destroyed, the tall buildings and skyscrapers were now nothing but rubble, only a few blocks were untouched, but had a fence put around them, with only one way in.

"Told you it was bad." Artie said, "me and a few friends hid in a basement while it happened, when we got out we ran into a Korean patrol, they took my friends captive and almost got me."

Phil nodded, "lets get moving,' he said, and the two started walking down the slope.

Artie looked around the deserted streets, "I feel like someone's watching us." He muttered.

"That's nonsense Artie," Phil said, "no ones here." He looked at one of the door ways and saw a bag with a loaf of bread inside, "hey look, we got some food.'

"I wouldn't trust it man," Artie said looking at it suspiciously, "It could be a trap."

"Nonsense," Phil said stepping into the House and reaching for the bag, "Hiya!" someone screamed and hit him in the back of the head with a shovel, Phil fell to the ground out cold, Wally stood over him with the shovel

"Holy crap!" Artie shouted looking at Wally, "you just knocked out my partner!"

"I am so sorry!" she said, dropping the shovel, "I thought he was a Korean."

"Alright two things, number one, how the hell is a shovel going to take down a Korean with a helmet? And two, how are you out here!"

"I hid in my basement during the attack," she said, "I just came up and knew if I walked out they would spot me, so I rigged a trap. I was going to smash the first one I saw with the shovel and take his gun."

Artie looked thoughtful, "I see a hole in your plan."

Phil groaned, "what the hell." He muttered. Getting up slowly.

Wally looked down at him, "oh it's Phil, and suddenly I don't feel too guilty." She said.

"The hell was that for." Phil asked rubbing his head.

"I thought you were a Korean."

Phil sat up and rubbed his head, "well I'm not. Nice swing though." He grumbled standing up.

"I told you not to go for the bread Phil," Artie said, "but no one listens to Artie."

"Hey I was hungry." Phil said.

"Go ahead and eat it." Wally grumbled and walked inside, Phil picked up the bread and walked in after her.

"Uh I don't think going in after the girl who almost hit your head off is a good idea." He said following.

"What are you planning to do Wally?" Phil asked.

"I'm going to stay in here and take out the first Korean I see, then I'm going to take his gun and shoot the rest of his squad.

"I see flaws in your plan." Phil said.

"That's what I said." Artie whispered, "she didn't listen…and now she's glaring at me so I'm going to go keep watch at the door." He went to the door and stood looked around the corner.

"Listen Wally," Phil said, "I know your tough but you can't take out soldiers on your own."

"Well I don't need your help." She muttered.

Phil sighed, "Come with us," he said, "I think I know a guy that's inside the fenced off area that could help us."

"So you're going to sneak into prison," Wally said, "you're one of the dumbest people I've ever met."

Phil glared at her, "fine, stay here and get taken hostage," he growled and walked out the front door, Artie followed.

"So you really leaving her here?" Artie asked.

"Just wait for it." Phil said.

"Hold on Phil!" Wally said running over, "I'll go with you."

Artie looked at him, "Good call." He whispered to Phil and the trio set off.

Victor Karkarov sat in his store listening to the radio, he heard a knock on the door and he looked over, "they came early." He growled pulling out a shotgun, he went to the door and kicked it open.

"Whoa!" Phil shouted, "Mr. Karkarov it's me!"

"Phillip?" Karkarov said looking at him, "You survived!" he looked down the street in every direction then looked at the three people in front of him, "Hurry, get inside now,"

Phil, Artie and Wally went inside and Karkarov closed the door, "It's good seeing you again Comrade, but you should not have come."

"Had to make sure you were alright." Phil said.

"I can handle myself," Karkarov said, "Go on and sit anywhere."

Phil looked at the walls and noticed something weird, "Karkarov," he said, "where's all the guns? Did the Koreans take them?"

"No," he said, "I hid them, those svoloch's couldn't find them even if I gave them a map!"

Phil nodded. "So have you heard anything?"

"America has been split in two." Karkarov said, "The Koreans have taken California, Nevada, Washington and the Dakota's. The Americans are fighting tooth and nail to stop them."

"Is anyone else helping?"

"Da, Mexico is fighting along side us, as soon as the first bombs dropped the Mexicans mobilized an army and sent us reinforcements, Russia is fighting too. They have attacked Korea on their home front."

"I thought the Russians would be against us."

"Russians hate Americans," Karkarov said, "But they hate Koreans more."

"What about Korea? Who's on their side?" Artie asked.

"Vietnam, Australia, and Botswana." Karkarov muttered and went into the kitchen and got some bottles, 'who wants Vodka?"

"I would think China would side with Korea." Wally said.

"Normally they would, but Korea attacked without China's permission, China has withdrawn support and will not help Koreans, of course they will not help America either."

"How do you know all this?" Wally asked suspiciously,

"Radio." He said, patting an old Radio on the table, " I serf the channels for a while and pick up different things, Military chatter, Civilian radio, I learned much from this." He brought one of the bottles in, "anyone?" he asked pointing to the bottle, Phil and Artie raised their hands but Wally shook her head with disgust.

"Ah, little girl doesn't like drinking." Karkarov said pouring three glasses and passing two to Phil and Artie.

"I don't approve of it." She said. "It kills brain cells and shortens your life."

"In times like these, who cares." Karkarov saying taking a swig from the bottle, "now comrade." Karkarov said turning to Phil, "what is your plan?"

"Well before Colonel Ackers died, he told me to lead the survivors to Las Vegas, said that was the next Rally point."

Karkarov nodded, "right now I doubt Las Vegas is the rally point. I will scan the radio to find the new one, and I will give you supplies and a transport to get to it. But for now, we drink!" he poured everyone, even Wally, a cup of Vodka, he raised his, "to the Valiant defenders of LA, who died yesterday to stop the Korean's from taking this place."

Artie and Phil raised their glasses and the three men clanked the cups together and drank, Wally nodded but didn't touch her glass.

Phil walked into the kitchen and grabbed a cup,

"Couldn't sleep?" he heard Karkarov say.

"Na just thirsty." Phil said, and turned to where Karkarov was, the Old Russian sat at the table with four guns in front of him, "Where'd those come from?" he asked looking at them.

"The Cellar," Karkarov said, "I did not hide all of my weapons, now I'm giving each of you a pistol, M1911, accurate gun, and very handy, your choice of a knife in the inventory, a Mosin Nagant, Five round magazine, Accurate enough to perform sniper missions, and light enough to run with.'

Phil nodded then looked at the last gun, "what about that one?"

"Ah," he said smiling, "This is the PPSh-41." He said, "Sub machine gun, good for close quarters combat, this is an officers gun, and it is yours."

"Why me?" Phil asked.

"Because you are the leader, the one most qualified to lead them." He said,

"Now I have to ask…where did you get these?" Phil asked.

"I brought them with me when I migrated here, I had to hide them in a few instruments to make sure I wouldn't be taken."

Karkarov looked at him, then said, "during my youth, I joined the Russian Army, my first deployment was to Stalingrad, there I made a name for myself, Sergeant Victor Karkarov, the hero of Stalingrad, I led my men to retake most of the city, we slaughtered thousands of Germans, and saved countless Russian lives, all because my commanding officers were killed, these guns were my squads, four great men, four great friends…"

"What happened?" Phil asked.

Karkarov looked up with a dark look, "during the Cold War, my squad and I were dispatched to capture a weapon that an unknown Country had made, we weren't the only men there though, General Friedrich and his platoon accompanied us, we assailed the compound and quickly took it, we found the weapon and were about to destroy it when Friedrich ordered us to check a corridor, I should've known not to trust him, but he was a commanding officer, what he says I do, so me and my men walked into the corridor, that's when he hurled the weapon in…it was a new type of Shrapnel grenade, it exploded behind me and my second in command Corporal Zenon, shredding my two Corporals to bits, When me and Zenon ran out thinking we were being assailed by more guards, Friedrich ordered us to be shot, I watched Zenon in front of me be torn to bits by our own soldiers… he was a war hero like me…he should've died in Stalingrad with honor, instead of being slaughtered in some godforsaken lab by his own comrades. I would've died that day if it weren't for the fact that the Americans chose that time to attack; I was spared, given citizen ship to America if I chose it. And I did, I moved here, away from Russia and it's corrupt ways, and chose to live amongst you."

"Wow…that's horrible…" Phil said.

Karkarov looked up, "Phillip," the old man said putting his hand on his shoulder, "you're no longer a civilian, you're a soldier, and someone will give you orders, orders to kill, sometimes orders to kill your own friends, Promise me that if they order you to do something that goes against your morals, that goes against what you know to be right, do not follow those orders. Put your gun down and speak against it. Do not make the same mistake I did, do not be blinded by the chain of Command."

"Yes sir…I promise."

He looked at Phil, "Now get some sleep, tomorrow you start your travels, and it'll be a long day."

Phil left, he hesitated at the door, "Karkarov are you sure your alright?" Phil asked.

"Go Comrade," Karkarov said looking at the guns in front of him, tears slowly falling from his face, 'get some sleep, and leave an old war dog to his memories."


	2. starting the journey

Phil impatiently paced in the living room, it had been two weeks since they had arrived at Karkarovs' and since then they hadn't even tried to leave, Korean patrols were too common around the street for them to try, and it was hard for Phil to stay cooped up in the small store, especially with Wally, she was constantly trying to piss Phil off every day. Phil sighed, _why does she hate me so much? _He thought to himself.

"Phillip," Karkarov said, walking over to him, "you are well yes?"

"Yeah Karkarov.'

"Good, good." Karkarov said, "I know you are eager to leave, so tonight, you and your friends will be heading out."

Phil nodded, "Finally," he said, "no offence Karkarov, but I've been ready to take off for a while."

"I know," Karkarov said, "I do not blame you, staying in a house with an old man, bah, no fun. If I could, I would go with you, but as I have told you before, I am to old to go anywhere, now you will head straight for Las Vegas, that is where the last known rally point is, once you get there you should be able to find the next rally point. If not just keep heading east, maybe head for Texas, I hear they are still fighting strong."

Phil nodded, "thanks Karkarov, for everything. "

"You are welcome my friend." Karkarov heard something, "stay here," he growled and walked into the main street, he pulled the blinds down a little bit and saw a tank roll down the street, flanked by five men, one of them pointed at his shop and four of the men moved towards it. "Damn." He muttered, he turned around "alright, new plan, you leave now, and haul ass out of here." He said, "now,"

"What about you Karkarov?" he asked,

"I have a previous engagement." He said walking upstairs, "they came for my guns."

"Just say someone's already gotten them." Phil said. "I mean you hid them right?"

"Eh…yes and no."

"What does that mean?" Phil asked.

"I hid them…but hiding them for me means I give them to resistance fighters."

"So, there probably here to arrest you."

"Yes but they won't! Now get your friends to the truck, and wait for signal to move."

"What's the signal?" Phil asked.

"You will know." Karkarov said, going into his room and closing the door.

Phil ran into the room Artie and Wally were waiting in, "Guy's we need to get to Karkarov's truck, we're moving out as soon as he gives the signal."

Karkarov opened his closet and pushed his ordinary clothes out of the way, he looked at the box hanging on the wall, he opened it and pulled out his old Russian Sergeant uniform, he put it on and walked downstairs as the Korean soldiers kicked open his doors, "Victor Karkarov!" one shouted "by the Command of the Korean Government you have been deemed dangerous."

Karkarov smiled and walked over behind the Counter, "barely found out I was dangerous eh? Must not have been studying my very closely."

"You have been ordered to come with us and be taken to a prison, where you cannot be a bother to us anymore."

"Now there is a problem with me going with you, you see I have this shop, and if I'm here, who is going to run it for me?" Karkarov reached under his counter carefully, his hand gripped a sawed off shotgun, "I can't just leave my shop unmanned."

"Crazy old man." The Korean said, "Arrest him!"

The three men started moving towards Karkarov, he pulled out the shotgun and fired, hitting one in the chest, the other two ran out, "I'm not crazy," Karkarov said and shot the leader, "but I am old."

Phil heard the shots and started up the truck, he floored it and the truck flew out of the garage, and down the street.

"I hope Karkarov is going to be alright." Artie said, "That old man was pretty cool."

"I'm sure he'll be fine, that old man is pretty tough." Phil said, but knew that Karkarov wouldn't hold out that long, he slammed on the breaks and turned around quickly and sped back.

"Phil what the hell are you doing!" Wally shouted.

"I'm not just leaving him there to be taken captive or killed!" Phil growled,

Karkarov fired on the Koreans trying to get into his shop "Come meet your death!" Karkarov shouted he knew that they would eventually capture him, but until then he was going to give them hell. He pulled out his pistol and started firing, he hard the sound of a truck and saw his truck crash onto the street.

"Artie grab the wheel!" Phil shouted and leaned out the window with the PPSh-41 he aimed down the sites and pulled the trigger, the kick almost made him fall out but he braced himself and sprayed the Koreans with a storm of bullets.

"Ah ha! You crazy man!" Karkarov shouted gleefully, "live long Phil Deville." He picked up his walking stick and slammed it into a Koreans head.

"Die well Sergeant Karkarov!" Phil shouted and got back in the truck.

One of the Koreans pulled out his rifle, "they want him alive!" his commander shouted, "that does not mean we can't shoot his legs out!" he shouted back and aimed down the sites, he pulled the trigger and hit Karkarov's legs.

Karkarov collapsed in pain, "Sookin syn!" he shouted and dragged himself back into his shop.

"Karkarov!" Phil shouted as the old man collapsed, he was about to turn around when Wally hit him, "It's too late for him!" she shouted, "keep driving."

Phil looked back with a pained expression on his face, he looked ahead and pressed on the gas, "I'm sorry Karkarov…" he muttered.

Karkarov dragged himself behind the counter, he looked down at his waist, one of the bullets had hit him in the stomach, "not so bad a wound" he muttered, and got himself into the sitting position, he opened up one of the pouches on his jacket and pulled out a grenade, he pulled the pin and waited, three Koreans walked in and peered over the Counter, they pointed their guns at him, "you are under arrest."

"Bah!" Karkarov spat, and tossed the grenade at them, 'Do svidaniya you Korean Éblan!"

Phil turned his head as he heard an explosion, he looked down and sighed, "I guess you died well Karkarov…" he muttered, and kept driving,

Artie looked back, 'oh man…" He muttered, "That guy just went down like a bad ass…"

Wally gave an irritated sigh and looked out the window.

Phil stopped in a small town and parked in an old machine shop, Artie jumped off the back and looked around, the Mosin Nagant in his hand, "I'm going to go scout the position."

Phil got out and leaned against the truck, Wally got out and slammed the door behind her, "that was stupid and reckless." She said to him, her arms crossed, "you could've gotten us killed!"

"I couldn't just leave him alone," Phil, muttered, "I couldn't leave him to face those soldiers without at least a little bit of help."

"There was a tank there! If they had decided too, they could've blown us right off the street!"

"You know what? I don't really care, I did what I had to do!"

"No you didn't do what you had to do!" she shouted, "You did what you wanted to do! You just wanted to be the hero, to feed your big ass ego! And for what? For a drunken old man!"

Phil slammed his fist into the truck, 'he wasn't just some old drunken man!" he shouted at her, standing up straight, "that man gave us shelter for two weeks, he gave us food, transportation and weapons! He stuck his neck out for him and your talking about him like he was nuisance, you ungrateful bitch!"

Wally looked at him Taken back, "w-well…y-you…" she stuttered.

"I what?" he shouted, "tell me what I did wrong? Come on, go ahead and tell me. Cause what I think I did wrong was let you come with me and Artie, I should've left your ass back in LA, Instead I helped you find shelter."

"I didn't even want to go! Then you dragged me to some old mans house and had me cooped up for two weeks in a house."

"He wasn't just some old man." Phil growled, "He was like a father to me! And you did want to go, I didn't put a gun to your head and force you to come with us, you came of your own accord!"

"You know what." Wally shouted, "I don't need this." She picked up her Mosin Nagant and her backpack; "I'm leaving!" she stormed out of the machine shop and went down the road.

"Fine! Good riddance!" Phil shouted after her.

Artie ran over, "what happened?" he asked.

"Wally decided she's better off on her own." Phil grumbled.

"Uh okay I may not have been the best of friends with her before this…actually she never even acknowledged my existence before this, but I'm telling you it's not a good idea to split up."

"It's her choice," Phil muttered, "If she wants to go out on her own and get herself killed, it's not my problem."

Artie looked at Wally's leaving figure, "Phil…"

"I'm not going to argue with you over this Artie." Phil said looking around the shop, 'now come on, lets fortify this place."

Wally walked through the deserted town, "I don't need them." She muttered, "stupid Phil, thinking he's so cool, thinking that I can't take care of myself, well you know what, I'll show him that I can survive on my own." She kept walking, looking around for somewhere to spend the night.

'Hey girl." She heard someone say, she turned around pulling the rifle off her shoulder. "What do you think your doing out here all alone?" a guy asked walking towards her, three other guys' were behind him.

"I'm heading to Denver, that's supposed to be a rally point for any refugees."

"Oh really?" he asked snickering, "and what do you think your doing with that rifle there?"

"Girl's gotta have protection." She said uncomfortably.

"You probably don't even know how to use it." he said as the other three guy's circled around her, "so what's in the backpack?"

"Things I need." She said rudely, "now if you'll excuse me." She started to walk away.

"Don't you walk away from me." He growled grabbing her arm and pulling her towards him, he slapped her as she got closer, making her fall to the ground. He pulled the backpack off of her back and opened it, 'food, ammunition, oh and a knife." He laughed, "your really packing some good heat."

"Take some of the food if you want." She said, "Just let me go!"

"Oh now there's a problem there." He said, "you see, we've been stranded in this town for two weeks now, and Jackson over there has been getting lonely, so we'll be needing something more then just your food.

Jackson stepped forward and grabbed Wally by the hair and started dragging her away.

"STOP!" she screamed, 'HELP!"

"No one can here you love." The guy said taking out a bag of chips and opening it,

Jackson tossed her into the back of the truck, "come on girl, just go with it." he said and grabbed her by the throat, he pulled her close to her and kissed her, forcing his tongue into her mouth.

Wally gagged and bit down on his tongue.

Jackson reared back and fell out of the truck, "damn it that hurt!" he snarled. He stood up and went back to the truck,

"Help!" Wally screamed again as Jackson jumped onto the truck and slapped her.

"I already told you no one going to here you…" he said then heard a shot, he grunted as something hit him, he looked down at his chest, blood was leaking out of a hole in his chest, he fell to the ground dead, Jackson looked back, "Boss…" he whispered, he jumped out and took out a shank he had, "Daniel! Jon! Who shot him!"

"I did." Phil growled walking forward, his pistol in his hand, "let the girl go."

Jackson glared at him, "kill this joker!"

Daniel and Jon ran at him, Phil hit one with the butt of the pistol in the side of the head, the other he punched in the jaw and threw him to the ground,

Jackson ran at him, Phil pointed his gun at him and pulled the trigger, hitting the large man in the forehead, Phil ran over to the truck, "Wally are you alright?" he asked. Wally jumped out and wrapped her arms around him,

"I'm sorry." She sobbed, tears streaming down her eyes, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean anything I said."

"Calm down," he said softly to her, "it's alright," he put his arms around her, trying to comfort her.

"He…he tried to…." She cried harder.

"It's alright, he can't hurt you." Phil murmured.

Artie sat in the truck sleeping soundly, a loud bang woke him up, he looked up and saw Phil walking in, a backpack and a rifle on his back, he carried wally in his arms, he carefully put Wally in a seat then put blankets and a pillow in the back of the truck, and gingerly picked up wally again, he laid her down in the bed of the truck and covered her in a blanket.

Artie carefully got out of the truck, "so you went after her anyways?" he asked softly.

"She was in trouble, four guy's had gotten ahold of her, if I hadn't stopped them you probably know what they would have done." Phil muttered.

"But what about what you said? 'If she wants to go out on her own and get herself killed then fine by you.' What about that huh?"

"I was just blowing off steam." Phil growled, 'now get some sleep, we head out early in the morning.


	3. Las Vegas,

Wally woke up with blankets and a pillow around her, she sat up and looked around, she saw her backpack and her gun leaning against the wall, she got up and walked around, there was no sign of Phil or Artie anywhere, "Did they leave me here?" she muttered, she walked around, then heard some talking in the other room, she went over to the door and cracked it open a little.

"…. Your sure that this is the only route through the Mountains?" Phil asked.

"The only one that isn't blocked by Korean Tanks, or being monitored by snipers." A voice she didn't recognize said, "it doesn't have any one watching it, it's a clear shot to Las Vegas, 'bout a 8 hour journey."

Wally burst in and saw Phil and Artie talking to a man dressed in ragged clothes, his skin was dark and his eyes were grey, Wally recognized him immediately, "you!" she shouted.

Jon looked up at her, "holy hell!" he said jumping back, "you scared the shit out of me!"

"You're one of the guy's that jumped me!" she shouted accusingly.

"I didn't have nothing to do with that!" he said, "I tried to keep those guy's from doing it!"

"You attacked Phil!" she shouted.

"He killed my friend," Jon said, "the guy may have been an asshole but he's the reason we survived."

Wally glared at him.

"Wally, he's helping us get to Las Vegas." Phil said, "and he's not all that bad of a guy."

Wally kept glaring at Jon.

'Listen girl," he said, "we hadn't eaten anything except tree bark for days, then you show up with a bag full of food, the original plan was to just take your food, then Jackson took it too far, I swear I didn't know he was going to do that."

"When he started you didn't even try to stop him."

"The other two would've stopped me!" he shouted, "would've beaten me til I couldn't move!"

Wally sighed, "fine!" she muttered, "I'll be in the truck."

Phil watched her leave.

"You wanna go talk to her?" Artie asked.

"No," Phil said, "I'll just make things worse."

Jon watched her leave then said, "If you want to avoid detection, it'll be best to do it at night, all patrols go during the day."

Phil turned to him, "you're not coming with us?" he asked.

"No," Jon said, "I'm staying here, maybe try and start up a small shelter for refugees."

Phil nodded, "you'll need a gun," he said pulling out his Mosin Nagant and gave it to him, he put some ammo in his hand, "I'll leave you some food too."

"Thank you," he said, "and if you can." He pulled out a letter, "I know it's probably a long shot, but my Wife and little girl were evacuated when the shit hit the fan, if you hear any wind of them, could you send them this letter? My wife's name is Stella, Stella Martinez, she's a doctor."

Phil took the Piece of paper; "I'll get it to her."

Jon smiled, "thank you." He said, "now get some sleep, you got a long night ahead of you."

That night Phil, Artie, and Wally made there way though the mountains, wally looked out the window, lost in her own world, Artie sat in the bed of the truck, a scoped Mosin Nagant in his hands, Phil drove, "so Wally," Phil said, "are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She muttered softly.

"You sure?" he asked as he turned down a dirt road.

"Positive Phil," she said, "soon we'll be in Las Vegas and it'll all be over."

Phil nodded and rounded the corner, "holy hell…" he whispered stopping the car, in the distance the city of Las Vegas was nothing more then a burnt out husk, buildings lay toppled, bodies littered the ground, and smoke curled up into the blackened sky.

"Oh my god." Wally said covering her mouth.

Artie looked through the scope, "nothings moving down there," he said. "Doubt anyone's alive…"

"Lets go down there." Phil said, "See if there are any survivors." He started up the truck again and drove down the hill, swerving past the skeletons of burnt cars, and trying not to hit any of the bodies on the ground. He looked around as they went, looking at the Casino's and Hotels now abandoned, at Military blockades that had been blasted apart, he pulled up to the Caesars palace and put the truck in park, he got out and walked over to where clusters of cars were, here he found Tents for Military, Medical, and Civilian personnel, in this spot there were hundreds of bodies slumped on the ground, most were unarmed. Phil walked over to a guy lying face down, he turned him over and looked down, "it's Trey," he said, "I had him in my fifth period Economics class...he was a good guy…"

The three friends checked the bodies, trying to find at least one surviving person, and hoping not to find anyone they knew. Phil was checking one of the bodies when he heard Wally scream, he turned around and ran towards her, "Wally!" he shouted, and slid to a stop beside her.

Wally looked down at a couple who had died in each others arms, "my parents…" she whispered covering her mouth, tears falling down her face.

"Wally, I'm so sorry," Phil said to her.

Wally fell and sobbed burying her eyes into her hands. Phil kneeled down beside her and put his arms around her as she cried.

Artie ran over, he was about to say something when he realized why Wally was crying, "I'm sorry Wally…" he said awkwardly.

Phil looked up at Artie. "Find a place that we can stay tonight, we're done looking for today."

Phil peaked into Wally's room, he saw her fast asleep with tears still running down her face, he sighed and softly closed the door.

"Never thought we would be sleeping in the penthouse of Caesars palace." Artie said, his feet propped up on the sofa.

"Never thought war would be like this." Phil said, "I mean why the hell would the Koreans kill Civilians? Out of cold blood?"

Artie shrugged, "no quarter type thing." He said.

Phil nodded, "and Poor Wally," he said, "first place we stop and she finds her parents, what kind of shitty luck is that."

Artie nodded, "I found a few friends of mine dead, but I've been lucky to not have found any family members."

Phil nodded, "you find anything in those tents?"

"Na, Army cleared everything useful out, I found a few maps, but they didn't mark the evacuation points, but I did find something useful, one of those Humvees are still operational, I just need to find it a gas line and we'll be up and ready to go!"

Phil nodded then heard sobbing again, he sighed.

Artie listened, "man this must be hitting her hard." He said,

"No shit Artie." Phil said, "I'll be back, I'm gonna go try and find something we can use.' He walked out of the lobby and into the night. Artie sighed and tried to catch some shuteye.

Phil walked through the streets, the PPSh-41 in his hands, he walked through the street, looking in Military vehicles for something of Value, he found very little, but what he did find he put into a bag, while he was checking if one of the Humvees had gas he heard a whimper behind him, he turned around, the PPSh ready in his hands, he looked around and then heard the whimper again, he walked forward carefully trying not to alert whatever it was, the whimper sounded again and this time Phil new where it was coming from, he turned towards a police cruiser and walked towards it, he walked around it and looked inside of it but couldn't find the thing that was whimpering, then he heard it again, this time it was under the car. He got on his hands and knees and looked, he saw a dead German shepherd, four bullet holes in it's side, at first he thought that was what was whimpering, then saw a small bundle move beside it's belly and whimper again. "Oh hell." He muttered and reached under. "Poor little guy, lost his momma." He said looking at the small little puppy, it writhed in his hands and yelped, trying to bark, "little fighter aren't ya?" he said, then a small idea formed in the back of his mind.

Artie stood at the door as Phil walked in, "find anything?" he asked.

Phil tossed him a bag, "got some guns, ammo, a few MRE's." he said.

Artie looked at the bundle in the nook of Phil's arm, 'what about that?"

"Something for Wally." He said, and then walked into her room, Wally sat on the edge of her bed looking out the window, her eyes dim, "wally," Phil said softly.

"What do you want Phil?" she said halfheartedly.

"Well you see I was out looking for stuff, and I found something that I know you've always wanted."

"And what's that?" she muttered, then she heard the soft whimpering, she turned around and saw a small German shepherd totter it's way across the bed, it fell down beside her leg and nuzzled her, it gave a small howl. "Where did you find him?" She asked softly picking the dog up."

"I found her under a police cruiser." He said, "and I know your sad, so I thought she would…you know cheer you up."

Wally looked up at him, "this is sweet." She said standing up, she gave Phil a small kiss, "I'm going to go find some milk for her." She walked out, leaving Phil smiling beside the window.

Phil and Artie walked out of the hotel, "alright, we'll cover five blocks and that's it for today." Phil muttered his eyes tired from waking up this early.

"Cool," Artie said happily, he looked outside as the sun peaked over the buildings, "man this is an awesome city."

"Oh yeah, destroyed buildings, abandoned cars, bodies everywhere, like freaking heaven," he muttered.

"You need to be more energetic!" Artie said, "I mean it's not that bad."

Phil shook his head, "lets just go and get this done,' he said.

Artie shrugged and the two walked through the streets, "so I hear that Wally got a new Pup." Artie said nonchalantly, 'she's calling it Jessie."

"That's a good name." Phil said.

"Yes well I'm still wondering, who gave her the dog?" Artie said looking at him.

"Yeah I gave her a dog," Phil said, "so what?"

"Dude most people I know give the girl they like a rose or something."

"I do not like her," he said, "I just felt bad that her parents were killed alright? And that dog can grow up to be useful to us."

"Yeah sure," Artie said smiling.

Phil grumbled something and walked away.

Artie smiled, "yep, nothing."

Phil walked down the street alone, Artie had been getting on his nerves so he had broken off and gone down another street, 'stupid idiot," he muttered, "I do not have a crush on Wally." He kept walking, looking around and trying to find anything or anyone, he heard a high-pitched scream and looked up as two fighter jets flew past, both bore symbol marking them as Korean, as they flew past he saw one fire on the other, "oh shit!" he shouted as an explosion rocked the air and one of the fighter jets fell out of the sky and slammed into the ground not too far away from where Phil stood, the other plane quickly peeled off and flew away, back towards LA. Phil stood there shaking; he pulled out his pistol and made his way slowly to the downed plane. The cockpit window blew off and he saw someone flailing their arms. He ran forward and climbed on, the pilot was struggling to get out, his arms were pinned and the mask he wore wasn't pumping in Oxygen. Phil jumped onto the side and grabbed the mask and tore it off.

The Pilot took a Deep breath and looked at his rescuer "gamsahabnida," he said.

Phil looked at him like he was crazy, "boy this is America," Phil said pointing the pistol at his head.

Realization dawned on the pilot and let out a sigh "Today, not my day." He said with a heavy accent.

"No shit." Phil said then dragged him out. He pushed him onto the ground, "start walking."

"You will execute me?"

"Haven't decided yet, now walk!" Phil said digging the gun into his back.

He started walking down the street his hands in the air, "you will get no information from me!"

"You sure? Cause it wasn't an American plane that shot you down, how about you just give me your name."

"Lee Po Minh, Commander in Korean Air Force, Service number 45432567, serving under General tee wan."

"Only asked for your name, but I guess all that's good too." Phil muttered.

Artie was working on a Humvee when he heard someone screaming insults in a different language, "let me guess Phil, you made a friend," Artie said getting out from under the Humvee, he looked up and saw Phil pointing a gun at a Pilot, "oh a Korean, can we keep him?"

"Shut it Artie," Phil said, "find some cuffs."

Artie ran inside and grabbed the Police handcuffs he had found earlier, he ran forward and put the Korean in the cuffs, "where the hell did you find him?"

"Did you not here a plane crash?" he asked.

"Nope," he said, "I heard some gunshots but I assumed it was you."

"Shut up." Phil grumbled and threw Lee in the back of the Humvee, "is it ready yet?"

"Eh yeah, it'll get us to El Paso." He said, "After that I doubt it'll run but still."

"What about the gun?"

"I found about five box's of ammo in one of the other trucks, but again the gun might break down and I only know how to fix cars, guns you'll have to find someone completely different…or let me beat the crap out of it with a hammer when it breaks down, I like the second idea better

"I'm not letting you beat the crap out of it."

"Fine." He muttered, "So what are we doing with the Korean?"

"Keep him until he's useful." Phil said, "When can we get going?"

"I'd say tomorrow, as long as nothing attacks by that time." Artie said, "I'm going to stay out here and keep working on the Humvee."

Phil nodded and walked inside.

Wally was asleep; Jessie the dog was curled up beside her.

Phil walked over, he looked down at her and smiled a little to himself, he picked her up and carried her over to her room, and Jessie woke up and tottered after them, not too thrilled about having someone pick up her caretaker. Phil put Wally down Gently in her bed, "Goodnight." He whispered to her, he started moving when Wally woke up a little bit and took his hand,

"Phil…please stay…" she murmured drowsily.

Phil hesitated, "are you sure Wally?" he asked.

"I'm positive." She whispered, pulling Phil back onto the bed.

Phil lay down beside her and put his arms around her, "Goodnight." He whispered again to her.

Wally smiled, "Goodnight." She said softly and fell back to sleep.

As the two fell asleep Jessie hobbled into the room and jumped up onto the bed, she looked from her master to the man that had brought her master into the room, she yawned and collapsed beside Phil's arm, she stretched her mouth forward and bit his hand, his punishment for waking her up.


	4. a new lead

Phil opened his eye's and tried to remember where he was, realization hit him and he slowly got up, careful not to wake up Wally, Jessie the dog picked up her head and looked at Phil, "Shh." Phil whispered and slowly walked out. The dog just put its head back down and closed her eyes.

Phil walked out of the room, "Artie!" he shouted, "where are you."

"Oh hey Phil…I'm in the Humvee." Artie shouted.

Phil walked over and saw Artie sitting on the hood of the Humvee, his hands behind his back.

"Hey Phil…how are you?" Artie asked.

"I'm good," Phil said looking at him weirdly.

"Awesome… so when are we leaving."

Phil was about to answer when he realized something, "Artie, the Korean escaped didn't he?"

"Uh…yeah…"

"And he handcuffed you didn't he."

"Correct."

"And now he's probably standing behind me with a handgun pointed at my head.'

"Actually it's pointed at your back but good guess."

Phil sighed, "son of a bitch." He muttered. Lee walked out from behind the counter and put it in his back, "now I am in charge." He said, "Against car, look straight ahead.

Phil walked forward, "how the hell did he get the better of you Artie?"

"I thought he was you for a while, I was under the Humvee and I kept asking for tools and he handed them to me…when I came out I wasn't too thrilled to find a gun in my face." Artie said.

" So what are you gonna do now lee?" Phil asked, "You gonna kill me?'

"Have not made my mind yet." Lee said, "Stay on car." Lee walked towards Phil and took his gun away, "anyone with you?"

"No, me and Artie are the only ones." Phil grumbled, Artie looked at him questioningly then understood.

"You take me to LA," he said, "maybe I let you live."

"No can do," Phil muttered.

"Then I kill you, go by myself."

"How are you going to go through the pass? They see an American jeep their gonna blow it up."

Lee hesitated, "do not play games." Lee said, suddenly a shot rang out and Lee collapsed screaming, a bullet in his knee, Wally stood behind him, her rifle smoking, "I can't believe I did that…" she said.

"Don't worry you didn't kill him." Phil said walking over.

"I was trying to kill him, I can't believe I missed his back by that much." Wally muttered.

Phil kicked the gun out of Lee's hand, "nice try Pilot," he said.

Lee spat on Phil's shoe.

Artie walked over, his hands still handcuffed, "do you think we can get these unlocked?" he asked.

Phil picked up his gun and shot the chain.

"Holy shit!" Artie shouted jumping, pulling the cuffs apart, 'how did you know you were gonna hit it?"

"I didn't." Phil said putting the gun up.

"That's not funny, seriously how did you know?" Artie asked grinning, and then slowly that grin went away, "you really didn't know? You could have killed me!"

Phil shrugged and picked up Lee, tossing him into the back of the jeep, "go find some more Cuffs Artie, and this time don't let him capture you."

Phil drove down the deserted highway, "can't those two stop arguing." He muttered, listening to Lee and Artie talk back and forth.

"I'm telling you, Predator could beat the hell out of Afro Samurai." Artie said to lee.

"No, you make mistake, Afro can kill predator easy." Lee said, "Afro has numba two headband."

"Predator has a plasma gun." Artie commented, "and he's a hunter, Afro Samurai has no chance."

"Would you two shut up!" Wally snapped turning around, "Jesus!"

"Thank you," Phil said, "Artie how are you so buddy, buddy with this guy, he just handcuffed you and put a gun to your head."

"Well that was at midnight, we had about ten hours to talk and get to know each other, did you know his grandmother lives in Oregon?"

"No I didn't know, and I don't care." Phil growled.

Artie looked at Lee, "someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." He muttered.

Wally glared at him.

Phil looked ahead, "hey we're coming up on some wreckage." Phil said slowing down.

Artie looked up, "damn, must've been one hell of a battle.' He muttered, looking at all the burned out tanks and jeeps.

Phil nodded and put the jeep in Park, he got out and pulled out his PPSh, he walked around looking at the bodies strewn on the ground, "mostly military," he muttered, "a few civilians but not much."

Wally looked at the bodies, "this private right here was the one Kimi wanted to go out with…" she said.

"How do you know?" Phil asked.

"Just because I wasn't friends with you doesn't mean that I wasn't friends with Kimi." Wally muttered.

"Well, if he's here then that means that the others were here not long ago." Phil said, "search the place, maybe we'll find some clues, Artie guard Lee."

Artie nodded and turned to Lee, "alright so, could Afro Samurai kill captain America?"

Phil looked walked by one of the tanks that still looked to be in working order and heard a noise inside, "hello?" he asked, his gun ready, "is anyone there?" Phil listened and heard a soft tapping, he climbed onto the tank and opened up the hatch, inside was someone he thought he would never see again, "Chuckie!" he shouted jumping down into the tank. The redheaded man was bloodied up, one leg was twisted the wrong way he had a handgun in one hand and a knife in the other.

"P…Phil…" he muttered, "you're alive, we thought you died back in LA."

"Na man, just been trying to find a ride," Phil muttered, "where is everyone Chuckie."

"About…five days ago we had stopped here to rest and gather our bearings…while we were camped out we were attacked, company of Koreans attacked us, the soldiers had enough time to get most of us into the transports and get us away…I tried to help keep the Koreans off…but I was hit in my leg…private George got me into this tank and told me he would be back…I don't think he's coming back though…"

"Chuckie I'm going to get you out of here." Phil said, "Just hold on.

"No man…I'm done for…" Chuckie muttered, "Lost too much blood…"

"Don't talk like that Chuckie, I'm going to go get wally and we're getting you out of here," he started climbing out of the tank, as soon as he got out he was confronted with five Koreans pointing there guns at him, "out of the tank, now!" one shouted.

Phil put his hands up and got out.

"Anyone else in there?" the same Korean asked.

"No," Phil said, "I was looking for ammo."

The Korean said something to his comrades and one of them walked over to Phil, the took away his weapons and then kicked him down off the tank, "march" the leader said to Phil, who in turn started walking back to the jeep, where even more Koreans and a Korean Tank waited, Wally and Artie were standing in front of the jeep, their hands in the air, Lee was standing beside the obvious leader, the leader stood with his hands behind his back, a samurai sword tied to his side. "That is their leader," Lee said to the leader, pointing at Phil.

"So, this is Phil? I expected someone much…older.' The leader said walking over to him, "I am surprised you and your friends have survived this long in this territory, but that is of no matter," he turned to one of the men standing on the side, 'execute them, put there heads on a pole."

Two men walked forward and grabbed Phil, dragging him to the others.

"Now lieutenant lee, you will be escorted back to the command center to be debriefed."

Lee nodded and started walking away.

"Lee! Come on man! At least convince them to not kill us!" Artie shouted.

"I am sorry Artie, I cannot do that…" lee kept walking, before he entered the jeep he heard the leader say something, "…as soon as you get five miles out, pull over and put a bullet in his head, best not have him go back."

Lee paused for a little while, realizing what an idiot he was being, the guard behind him prodded him with his gun, "well what are you waiting for? Go."

Lee turned around and punched him in the face and took his gun, he fired into the mans stomach and pointed it at the leader, before he could fire two men ran forward and subdued him.

"You disappoint me Lieutenant, I thought you would love to die with honor."

"Honor is not being shot in the head on the roadside." Lee spat.

The leader shook his head, "so sad, execute him with the others."

The two men threw him over with the others, "I am sorry," He said to them, "I was an idiot to think they were still my allies."

"Well we were idiots to think that we could leave you unguarded, we'll all die like idiots together."

"You weren't guarding him?" Phil growled to him.

"…What?"

"On my signal," the leader said.

Phil glared at the man as he ordered his men to get ready, he heard a noise, a quiet noise but he heard it none the less, he looked behind the men and saw one of the American tanks moving, the turret swiveling around, "guy's…on my signal, roll out of the way.' He muttered.

"What?" Wally asked.

Phil saw the tank stop moving, "Now." He shouted and rolled out the way, Lee and Artie followed, Wally looked confused for a second until Phil pulled her with him as the tank fired, blowing up the Korean tank, and making the soldiers fly back, Phil jumped up and picked up one of the AK's that the Korean dropped and started firing.

One of the men landed beside the tank, he stood up and aimed his gun at Phil, as he was about to fire he heard a screamed and looked up in time to see a redheaded man jump down from the tank and land on top of him, stabbing him repeatedly in his chest.

The commander stood up, watching his men being slaughtered by the American Civilians, he pulled out the sword and ran at Phil, "you will die!" he shouted.

Lee jumped out and kicked him across the head, as he fell Lee grabbed the sword and brought it down on the commander's head, "you have been relieved of duty." He said.

Phil killed the last man and looked around, Wally was reloading her gun and Artie was cleaning his knife on his pants, Phil looked at the tank and ran over, "Chuckie!" he shouted, seeing the man on the ground with bullet holes riddling his body. "Chuckie don't worry man we'll get you out of here."

"N-no Phil…" he whispered, trying to concentrate on Phil's face, 'I'm not making it…' he shakily reached up and put his hand on Phil's shoulder, "t-the convoy was going to a mining town in the Rockies…just head east…" with saying that, Chuckie's eyes closed and his arm fell.

Tears filled Phil's eyes as he stood up, "get your guns, load up the jeep," he growled, "we're heading out in an hour."

"Phil…" Wally whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks."

"Now!" he shouted, walking back to the jeep, he saw one of the Koreans try to crawl away so he picked up his handgun and shot him in the head, "No more mercy for these sons of bitches." He growled.

Wally woke up and sat up, Jessie was asleep beside her, curled up in a small ball, she looked around and saw Phil's sleeping bag empty, she sighed and stood up, she walked across the camp and saw Phil standing on top of one of the burnt out tanks, just looking around, "hey…" she said walking up to him, "are you alright?"

"I'm fine." He said, "couldn't be better."

"Phil…" she said climbing onto the tank, "come on, tell me what's wrong."

"I said I'm fine!" he snapped, then took a deep breath, "It's nothing, really."

Wally stood beside Phil, "I know it's hard to lose a friend," she started, "and I know that your feeling a lot of pain right now, and it doesn't help to bottle it up."

Phil looked at her, "I'm not in pain it's…It's just…" he sighed, tears falling from his eyes.

Wally put her arms around him, "I know." She whispered softly, "I know…"

Phil put his arms around her, finally letting out his grief.

Artie sat in the camp, writing in a journal, he heard a rustling and looked up as Lee walked into camp, a samurai sword on his back and something in his hand. "What do you got Lee?" he asked.

Lee looked at him and smiled, holding up an old worn out headband, "numba two." He said.

Artie shook his head, "just because it has number two on it doesn't mean it's that headband."

"I know, just makes me feel stronger." He said putting it on, he looked over at the old tank, seeing Wally and Phil hugging, "those two are blind." He said.

"Yeah I know, act like they don't like each other, but in reality they do."

"That is not what I meant." He said, "they are blind to the fact that they are in the middle of a war, there is no room for personal feelings."

Artie looked at him, "you never had a girlfriend huh?"

"I have a wife," he said, "but I do not try and fool myself in thinking I will be able to get back to her at the end of this."

"Hey man, sometimes it's good to have love, gives you hope, and gets you to live through the war."

Lee sighed and walked over to a tree, 'I doubt it." He muttered and sat underneath it.

Artie shook his head, and got into his sleeping bag.


End file.
